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Fertiliser for Trees, Shrubs and Hedging

The Use of Fertiliser on Trees and Shrubs

Many people email us asking about what nutrition they need to add when planting our trees and shrubs because they are used to hearing about the need for nutrition on other plants in the garden. Occasionally, we also get asked about fertiliser for hedging, so I thought it would be useful to outline what fertiliser does and what we recommend. I'll use the example of shrubs, but this can be applied to all hardy nursery stock: trees, shrubs and hedging.

The Root Mass of Shrubs

A shrub can't take up any nutrition if it doesn't have any roots, so the first thing to ensure is that those roots are there. Because all our plants at buy-trees-online are grown as containerised plants, you can be assured that your shrubs have a really strong root system, but if you were to be using poor quality bare-rooted plants then you would want to stimulate root growth before adding fertiliser. In the nursery, if we have long periods of sustained rain, there can be a risk of poor root development due to waterlogging, so we add auxins in the form of natural seaweed extract to stimulate this growth before adding fertiliser.

Phosphate Fertiliser on Shrubs

The primary nutrient to be used on trees and shrubs is phosphate. Upon planting, this is converted to phosphite and taken up and used for root growth. The most important thing in those initial stages is the growth of fine roots and phosphite helps this happen.

Potassium For Hardy Hedging

Potassium is also important in the growth of all plants, but in trees and shrubs it is vital for hardiness. The nutrient is actually used in cell wall creation and the addition will help stiffen up stems and prepare the plant for strong winds and hard winters.

Nitrogen for Fast Growing Trees

The rapid growth of tree stems needs a good amount of nitrogen, but this is also important if you want shrubs to cover a space or establish a hedge quickly. A tree uses nitrogen for the production of fleshy, new growth and will gain half of that from its own stores and half from the soil. All plants at buy-trees-online have good nitrogen stores and so you may wish to add some more to the soil to help rapid growth over the first few years

Micronutrients for all Plants

A plant needs a balance of nutrients for its complex growing systems and sometimes growth can be retarded by a lack of a micronutrient such as Boron. It is difficult to assess if a soil is depleted of one of those micronutrients, so it can be useful to provide them all just in case.

Albacote Fertiliser- an all in one solution.

Yes, the whole blog has been geared to telling you why Albacote fertiliser is the perfect solution: a balance of NPK and micronutrients perfectly designed for all trees and shrubs covered in a coating for controlled release during establishment.